Family
by Norla
Summary: My response to a challenge where Bosco is the one that is married and has 2 children, and Faith is single.


I was completely intrigued by the challenge of writing a story in which Bosco was married with 2 kids and Faith was single. This is my version of what may have happened.  
  
I do not own them, but wouldn't be opposed to having Bosco dropped in my lap!  
  
Family  
  
Prologue: I have always wondered what it would be like to be happily married and have kids of my own. My best friend and partner Maurice Boscorelli does, he has the life that I have always dreamed of having, and not just with anyone, with him. Sometimes when we are riding together, and he is complaining about one of his kids, I drift into a place where we are talking about his kids as if they were ours. Then unfailingly Hannah's name comes up and my bubble bursts.  
  
"My god Faith, I nearly died last night," Bosco said just as they were climbing into the RMP. "There I am answering the door only to find Lukas standing in front of me with Miller and Moline from the second watch right behind him.  
  
I shook my head. That boy of Bosco's was the living end. He was always finding some sort of mischief to get into. "What was he doing this time Bos?" I asked as I did up my seatbelt and braced myself  
  
"The little brat was lighting little red firecrackers and putting them into of Sergeant McAllister's mailbox." Bos groaned.  
  
"Why on earth?" I asked suppressing a giggle. It sounded typical of Lukas to me.  
  
"He apparently has a crush on Victoria, McAllister's daughter," Bosco finished as he floored the car. "Faith, I don't know what to do with him. I don't suppose you want him?"  
  
Bosco was always offering me one or the other of his children. In truth, I would take either of them in a second, as long as their father was part of the deal. "Nah," I answered. "You keep him, I'll take Abby. She's still little and cute!"  
  
Bosco rolled his eyes. "Cute, yah, she's cute, but she is one expensive kid! I opened the last bill for her skating lessons! Do you have any idea how much we are spending a month on those lessons? Four hundred and twenty eight dollars! I mean I know Hannah works, but really, just so Abigail can flit around on the ice in a little short skirt and have guys watch her. She is eight! She does not need that kind of money spent on her! We could be spending it on a private school for her brother so he cannot get into any more trouble! I have a reputation to uphold!"  
  
I could not help laughing, and for that, received one of Bosco's infamous glares. "Sorry Bos," I snickered then composed myself again. "Seriously Bos, how are things going with Hannah?" Bosco sobered the moment that I mentioned his wife's name. "I think things are getting better. The counseling, it seems to be helping. She just does not seem to want to work at this. I'm working my ass off to save my marriage, and when we go to the appointments, she sits there filing her nails!"  
  
"Really?" I asked looking at my partner's handsome profile.  
  
He looked over at me with a serious expression. "No kidding Faith, she sat there filing and fussing over her manicure. It was embarrassing. We have not had as many wars as usual lately, but then she has been working a lot too. Jag-Off!"  
  
I had turned my head to watch out the window, but turned back toward him quickly when he shouted and cranked the steering wheel. I grabbed tightly to the door and the dash as he stepped on the gas and flipped on the siren, as we took off after a blue Chrysler.  
  
We stopped for our meal period early. Bos drove up to his apartment building, which was in a nice area. "Hannah is working late tonight," he explained as we got out of the car. "I promised Abby that we would stop by."  
  
I nodded. It was not unusual for us to take our break at his place. He may have been having problems with his wife, but his children were his life. As much as he complained about them, I knew he loved them more than anything in the world. We went inside and found both Lukas and Abby fussing in the kitchen. They had prepared a simple but nice dinner of salad, KD, Salisbury steaks and Sundaes for us. The four of us sat around the table eating quietly at first and I had the opportunity to drift back into my dream world of Bos, and our kids and I eating supper together. "How was your day at school?" I found myself asking the kids.  
  
"Good, " Lukas said as he concentrated hard on his food. "Nothing happened."  
  
"Which pretty much always means that it did," Bosco said turning his attention to his eldest child. "What happened? Did you get that test back?"  
  
"Yah," Lukas said looking up with a surprised expression, you've got to see it dad, I think the teacher made a mistake!" He jumped up, ran from the room returning a second later with a paper in his hand, and handed it to Bosco.  
  
I watched as Bosco's eyes opened wide as he looked at the paper. "Yes son, he said with a grin, I'd say that they made a mistake! How did you get an A+? Excellent work, I'm very proud of you!"  
  
Bosco passed the paper over to me without looking my direction. For a moment, I do not think that he realized that I was not his wife and the child's mother. I looked at the paper carefully and read his responses. "Congratulations Lukas!" I said when I was finished reading, "this is fabulous!" "Thanks to you Auntie Faith," he replied with a grin. I couldn't have done this well if you hadn't helped."  
  
"Anytime you need help with Art History, you know where to find me," I smiled pride welling up in me with the knowledge that I had helped the boy. He had called me about a week earlier upset because he did not understand the Art History portion of his English class. My University degree was in the subject so Bosco had suggested he call me. I had taken the boy out for dinner and then back to my place and we worked until he had it figured out.  
  
"What about your day Abster?" Bosco asked his daughter.  
  
The little girl started to chatter about her day while I sat back and watched Bosco with his children. I had noticed that he did not push Lukas any further about the events of his day. He wanted to end that conversation on a high note. He knew that the boy did not often get positive reinforcement and Bos wanted to leave the subject with the boy knowing his father was proud of him."  
  
Later, when we were back in the car and patrolling again I summoned up the courage to ask Bosco a question that had been in my mind for a long time.  
  
"Bos?"  
  
"Hmmm?"  
  
"What is it like?"  
  
"What is what like?" He asked looking at me curiously.  
  
"What is it like to be married and have kids?"  
  
"Expensive, frustrating, confining, amazing, exciting, wonderful," Bosco said. "Why?"  
  
"I've often wondered what kind of wife and mother I may have been," I said softly looking out the window again.  
  
"You will be great," Bosco said encouragingly. "One day soon you are going to find that perfect guy and you are going to make a beautiful baby together. Faith please do not talk as if it is too late for you, you are young, healthy, and quite beautiful. I honestly don't know why you haven't been taken yet."  
  
The rest of our evening was uneventful at best. Bos and I spent a great deal of time at our favorite place under the bridge. He wandered down toward the river, which afforded me some time to sit and think.  
  
Bosco and I had been friends and partners for over ten years. We had met in the Police Academy. I had helped him with the academic portion and he had all but taught me how to shoot my weapon. He had told me how he and Hannah had met when they were juniors in High School. She had been a cheerleader, and he had been. a lot like his son was now. Hannah had gotten pregnant when they were 18 and they had married straight out of school. Bos had tried a few dead end jobs after Lukas had been born, before he turned to the Academy. They had Struggled for the first years, with Bosco attending the Academy, then Hannah had gone back to school to become a Lab Technician. She had worked at Angel of Mercy Hospital ever since she graduated.  
  
Abigail Faith Boscorelli was born six years to the day after her brother. I had been named godmother of the little redheaded imp. That child and her brother, were the closest I would ever get to having children of my own. I loved them both dearly. I spent as much time as I could with them, I would have spent even more time with them, but Hannah did not like me very much. I think that she thought I was trying to push her out of the picture, so that I could have Bosco, her kids and her life.  
  
That night, as I was lounging on the couch in my Pooh Bear pajamas, Bosco buzzed. I hurried to let him in, then glanced down at my attire. Great, Bos was here and I was dressed like a 10-year-old. I did not have time to change into something more adult before he rapped on my door. I opened it to find a distraught Bosco in front of me.  
  
"What happened?" I asked worriedly as I grasped his arm and pulled him into my apartment.  
  
He stumbled over to the couch and looked at me. He looked just like a wounded puppy dog. His blue eyes large and shining with tears. He blinked slowly and I watched as a tear slid down his face.  
  
I rushed over to him and sat down next to him fighting the urge to kiss the tear away. "Bos, talk to me."  
  
"She has a boyfriend," Bosco whispered. "Hannah has a boyfriend who is about 20. His name is Billy."  
  
"What?" I asked in shock. I felt anger creep into my bones. 'How dare she! How dare she hurt Bosco like this! If he were mine, I would never ever hurt him. I would take proper care of him and treat him the way he deserved to be.  
  
"I came in after work, and found them together, in our bed," he sobbed, not trying to stop the tears now. "Thank god the kids were both sleeping. I left, what was I supposed to do?"  
  
I took him into my arms and held him close while he cried. Eventually his tears subsided and he pulled away from me. "Faith, I'm trying so hard," he said. "I am doing everything that I know to save my marriage. I am not going to give up at the first sign of trouble. We have our kids that we have to think about and create a life for. Hanna and me, we, we are kinda together out of necessity. If I had not gotten her pregnant in high school, things would be so different now. I would be with someone different, someone not anything like her, some one more like you."  
  
My heart jumped as he said this. "Bos," I said quietly. "I don't think you are giving up, and this is by far the first sign of trouble. I hate seeing you like this, you are my best friend so please. Bos you need to get out of there. Take the kids and leave. You would be happier, they would be happier, and Hannah would be happier too."  
  
"I wish I could," he said. "I grew up in a broken home, and I won't let that happen to my kids. They need both a mom and a dad.  
  
"Bos, far be it from me you know more about having kids than I do but, wouldn't keeping kids in an unhappy environment be more harmful to them than having both their parents happy?" I asked carefully. 'And', I added in my head, "If you moved in here with me then I would make sure that you and the kids were happy and taken care of."  
  
"What?" Bosco asked staring at me in surprise.  
  
"What what?" I asked.  
  
"You want us to move in with you?" He asked in astonishment.  
  
I froze. I did not realize that I had said the words aloud. Oh crap, what had I done now?  
  
"Faith." he started then stopped. I did not know what to say so I just kept watching him.  
  
"Faith," he tried again. "Are you saying."  
  
"Bos, I'm saying that I want you to be happy," I recovered although my cheeks still felt very warm.  
  
He leaned in and touched his lips to mine gently. I felt the electricity from the kiss bolt through my body. Without thinking, I kissed him back groaning when his tongue touched mine. We could not do this, I did not want this to happen. well I did, more than anything, but I did not want it to be a revenge thing. After all he had just caught his wife in bed with another man.  
  
Bosco pulled away and looked deep into my eyes. He grabbed my hands and held them tightly as he said" Faith, I never knew you felt the same way as I do. Faith, I have been in love with you since we met at the Academy. I often wondered what would have happened if I had not already been married."  
  
My heart soared at his words, but I still knew that this could not happen. I could not be with him, unless Hannah was gone and he was holding the divorce papers in his hand. "Bos."  
  
He did not respond but ran his hand gently down my face before he leaned in to kiss me again.  
  
I pulled away just before our lips connected. "Bosco, we can't do this. You're just upset about Hannah."  
  
Bosco froze, dropped his head and leaned back against the couch. "Hannah," he said. "How I wish there wasn't a Hannah."  
  
"Don't say that," I scolded him, and he looked up at me in surprise. "Without a Hannah there wouldn't be a Lukas or an Abigail."  
  
"That's true," he said weakly. "I could not imagine a life without them. Faith, can I stay here tonight? On the couch? I don't think that I can face her again tonight."  
  
"Absolutely," I replied. "Let me go fix you a snack."  
  
"You don't have to." he said  
  
"I want to," I said stopping any protest with my expression. I went into the kitchen and made him a chicken wrap, added a dill pickle to the plate and poured him a glass of fruit juice. By the time I finished and carried, the food back out to him he had fallen asleep on my couch. I covered him carefully with a blanket, shut off the television and tiptoed to my room.  
  
"Hey Faith wait up," Bos called to me the next day when after we had changed at the end of our shift. "Wanna go out for something to eat?"  
  
"Sure," I said slowly. Bos had been unusually quiet throughout our shift. We walked out to his car and drove to one of our favorite restaurants.  
  
"I took the kids out to lunch today," Bosco said as he started to shred a napkin. "Abigail said something that made me think. She said 'Daddy when you get divorced from Mom, I want to live with you. I do not like Billy. Then Lukas said he wanted to live with me too." Apparently, Hannah told them that we were divorcing, which was news to me. I went to the hospital and talked to Hannah and she wants a separation. I begged her to give counseling another try, but Fait I think that I have failed at my marriage. You are right though; the kids deserve to be in a happy home. They deserve to see a positive relationship not the one that Hannah and I have."  
  
"Bos," I said quietly, my heart thumping in my chest. "Bring the kids to my place. We can be a family. This time I leaned over and kissed him soundly. "I love you. I have since the day we met. I dream about you and the kids at night. Bos I want you, I want to take care of you. I want to take care of your kids."  
  
Bosco looked at me, got up from his chair and pulled me into his arms. "I want that too Faith. I just don't know."  
  
"I do," I said surprising myself. I led him to the till, and asked that our order be changed to take out.  
  
Minutes later we were back in Bosco's car and we were headed toward my place. I led him up to my apartment and were no sooner in the door when he pushed me against the wall and started to kiss me. My hands flew to the buttons on his shirt and quickly unfastened them. He pulled at my shirt, and I broke away from the embrace long enough to pull my top off.  
  
We frantically undressed each other and barely made it to my bedroom in time. Almost as an afterthought I reached into my bedside table and located a condom. I handed it to Bosco and watched as he put it on then crawled over me.  
  
I closed my eyes and relished the feeling of Bosco. This is what it was supposed to be like. This is where I was supposed to be. I loved this man more than anything.  
  
When we were finished, we discovered something rather alarming. The condom had broken. Granted I did not know how old it was, but still the chances of that actually happening were extremely slim. "Oh, crap, Faith," he stammered. "What if."  
  
"Bos," I said then stopped. I really did not know what to say. "I'm sure it will be ok," My voice sounded more confident than I felt. I was mentally checking the date, and felt my heart sink.  
  
"Faith, I'm so sorry," Bosco was saying.  
  
"Shut up Bos," I said kissing him to soften my words. "It wasn't just you."  
  
Bosco went back home to his family very early the next morning. Things were a little strained between us for a few days, but soon things returned to normal. He had told Hannah that we had slept together and about our 'mishap'. She took it as a sign that Bosco may indeed leave her and agreed to start working harder on their marriage.  
  
I was happy for Bosco, because he seemed excited at the prospect of keeping his family together, but I was not completely happy for him. I had a taste, if you will, of Bosco and I was not completely ready to give up on the idea of him.  
  
I caught what I thought was a flu bug, and was sick for days. Bosco knew better and one night about a month after we had slept together, we stopped in front of a pharmacy on the way home and he bought a pregnancy test. I ran it the next day and it was positive.  
  
"Well?" Was Bosco's first word when he picked me up for work.  
  
"Positive," I said lowering my head. I was not sure why I was feeling bad. I was finally going to be a mother, and the baby's father was the man that I loved with all my heart. "Bosco I am going to have it. I do not want anything from you. I would like to be able to tell her who her father is, but I am not going to hold you responsible for any of this."  
  
"I am responsible," he said determinedly. "I will not make you take all of this on yourself."  
  
He told Hannah that evening. I could not wait to talk to him the next day. Part of me wanted to know what had happened, but another part of me did not. I could handle it, after all there were millions of single mom's out there. If they could, I could.  
  
"Hannah and I talked last night," Bosco said as Faith climbed into his car.  
  
"And?" I asked nervously.  
  
"She was really calm." He said. "She's moving out."  
  
"No, Bos," I said. "The last thing I wanted to do was break up your marriage!"  
  
"You didn't baby," he said gently, then leaned over and kissed me softly. "She told me that she wants out. She does not want the kids, apparently they make her crazy. She said that we got married too young and she has a life that she wants to lead. She said that she was happy for us that you and I were soulmates, that she has known that since the beginning. She wants me to talk to the kids. I expect she will be gone when I get home from work today. She sent the kids to my mothers for a sleep over. Will you be there with me when I tell them? Faith I need you, I need your support."  
  
"Maurice Boscorelli," I said feeling a smile spread across my face. "I will be with you, to support you, to love you and to take care of you and all three of our children for the rest of our lives."  
  
We took the kids out to McDonald's that evening then drove them down to our place under the bridge to eat and talk. They took the news very well and Abby even crawled up into my arms.  
  
"You will be my Mommy now right?" She asked her blue eyes, Bosco's blue eyes, sparkled up at me."  
  
"Yes," I answered the child without hesitation and pulled her into a huge hug. "I think you're stuck with me. Is that ok?"  
  
"Better than ok," Lukas said as he too wrapped his arms around me. "Auntie Faith, thank you."  
  
I looked up into Bosco's smiling face. He looked years younger than he had even yesterday.  
  
"That's not all," Bosco said to his children and looked me in the eyes hesitating only slightly.  
  
I nodded and listened as Bosco told his children that they would be having a new sister or brother soon. I expected the kids to have a fit, but they were both very happy and moments after being told were debating on brother or sister.  
  
Bosco took me into his arms after the kids had been bedded for the night. "I'm not going to screw this one up," he said in a whisper. "I will not fail this time."  
  
"You didn't fail last time," I said gently reaching up to kiss him. "Come to bed sweetheart." With that, I led him down the hall to start our new life together.  
  
Epilogue: Seven months later, baby Micah Nicholas Boscorelli joined our family. I sat uncomfortably in my hospital bed with Bosco's arms around me. Lukas and Abby were fussing over their baby brother taking turns holding him gently. Bosco slid in behind me and held me tightly. My happy heart felt like it was ready to burst. I felt a tear stray down my face as I watched my children.  
  
"So this is what it is like," I said resting my head against my future husband's chest.  
  
"This is what what is like?" He asked in a slightly confused tone.  
  
"Family," I answered. "Family. 


End file.
